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“The (Polar) Bear Facts,” Checked

In response to the suspension of federal scientist Charles Monnett, author of a 2006 article documenting polar bear deaths, conservative media have tried to dismiss the threat posed to polar bears by global warming. On Sunday, a New York Posteditorial claimed Monnett's paper “led directly to the 2008 classification of the bears as a 'threatened' species, whose survival is allegedly at risk due to global warming.” The editorial, titled “The (polar) bear facts,” concluded that there is “no need to weep for 'threatened' polar bears just yet - nor, especially, for the planet.”

In fact, the Fish and Wildlife Service's determination that “the polar bear is threatened throughout its entire range by ongoing and projected changes in sea ice habitat” was based on a comprehensive evaluation of “the best available scientific and commercial information on polar bear habitat and projected effects of various factors (including climate change) on the quantity and distribution of polar bear habitat.”

Kassie Siegel of the Center for Biological Diversity stated in response to Sen. James Inhofe's claim that Monnett's paper provided “the foundation” for the FWS determination: “That paper was one of literally hundreds of scientific articles cited in the listing.”

Indeed, the determination cites many studies documenting how the “observed declines in the extent of Arctic sea ice” has and will affect polar bears, for instance:

The Post editorial also falsely suggested that a recent study raises doubt about the basic fact that “carbon-dioxide emissions trap heat in the atmosphere” and falsely claimed that “climategate” showed scientists “fudg[ing] the facts.”